Method of making a circuit assembly

ABSTRACT

An electronic assembly  400  and a method for its manufacture  800, 900, 1000 1200, 1400, 1500, 1700 . The assembly  400  uses no solder. Components  406 , or component packages  402, 802, 804, 806  with IPO leads  412  are placed  800  onto a planar substrate  808 . The assembly is encapsulated  900  with electrically insulating material  908  with vias  420, 1002  formed or drilled  1000  through the substrate  808  to the components&#39; leads  412 . Then the assembly is plated  1200  and the encapsulation and drilling process  1500  repeated to build up desired layers  422, 1502, 1702 . The planar substrate  808  may be a flexible substrate  2016  allowing bending of an assembly  2000  to fit into various enclosures.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part and claims the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/US08/63123 filed on May 8, 2008 which claimed priority to: “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY WITHOUT SOLDER,” U.S. Application No. 60/928,467, filed on May 8, 2007; “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY WITHOUT SOLDER AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/932,200, filed on May 29, 2007; “SOLDERLESS FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/958,385, filed on Jul. 5, 2007; “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/959,148, filed on Jul. 10, 2007; “MASS ASSEMBLY OF ENCAPULSATED ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS TO A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD BY MEANS OF AN ADHESIVE LAYER HAVING EMBEDDED CONDUCTIVE JOINING MATERIALS,” U.S. Application No. 60/962,626, filed on Jul. 31, 2007; “SYSTEM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER,” U.S. Application No. 60/963,822, filed on Aug. 6, 2007; “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/966,643, filed on Aug. 28, 2007; “MONOLITHIC MOLDED SOLDERLESS FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 61/038,564, filed on Mar. 21, 2008; and “THE OCCAM PROCESS SOLDERLESS ASSEMBLY AND INTERCONNECTION OF ELECTRONIC PACKAGES,” U.S. Application No. 61/039,059, filed on Mar. 24, 2008.

This application further claims priority to “SOLDERLESS FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE”, U.S. Application No. 60/958,385, filed on Jul. 5, 2007; “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/959,148, filed on Jul. 10, 2007; “MASS ASSEMBLY OF ENCAPULSATED ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS TO A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD BY MEANS OF AN ADHESIVE LAYER HAVING EMBEDDED CONDUCTIVE JOINING MATERIALS,” U.S. Application No. 60/962,626, filed on Jul. 31, 2007; “SYSTEM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER,” U.S. Application No. 60/963,822, filed on Aug. 6, 2007; “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 60/966,643, filed on Aug. 28, 2007; “MONOLITHIC MOLDED SOLDERLESS FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 61/038,564, filed on Mar. 21, 2008; “THE OCCAM PROCESS SOLDERLESS ASSEMBLY AND INTERCONNECTION OF ELECTRONIC PACKAGES,” U.S. Application No. 61/039,059, filed on Mar. 24, 2008; and “ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER ON TEMPORARY SUBSTRATES AND METHODS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE,” U.S. Application No. 61/075,238, filed on Jun. 24, 2008.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE/PERMISSION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic assembly and more specifically, but not exclusively, to the manufacture and assembly of electronic products without the use of solder.

BACKGROUND

The assembly of electronic products and more specifically the permanent assembly of electronic components to printed circuit boards has involved the use of some form of relatively low-temperature solder alloy (e.g., tin/lead or Sn63/Pb37) since the earliest days of the electronics industry. The reasons are manifold but the most important one has been the ease of mass joining of thousand of electronics interconnections between printed circuit and the leads of many electronic components.

Lead is a highly toxic substance, exposure to which can produce a wide range of well known adverse health effects. Of importance in this context, fumes produced from soldering operations are dangerous to workers. The process may generate a fume which is a combination of lead oxide (from lead based solder) and colophony (from the solder flux). Each of these constituents has been shown to be potentially hazardous. In addition, if the amount of lead in electronics were reduced, it would also reduce the pressure to mine and smelt it. Mining lead can contaminate local ground water supplies. Smelting can lead to factory, worker, and environmental contamination.

Reducing the lead stream would also reduce the amount of lead in discarded electronic devices, lowering the level of lead in landfills and in other less secure locations. Because of the difficulty and cost of recycling used electronics, as well as lax enforcement of legislation regarding waste exports, large amounts of used electronics are sent to countries such as China, India, and Kenya, which have lower environmental standards and poorer working conditions.

Thus, there are marketing and legislative pressures to reduce tin/lead solders. In particular, the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (commonly referred to as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive or ROHS) was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union. The RoHS directive took effect on Jul. 1, 2006, and is required to be enforced and become law in each member state. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials, including lead, in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. It is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic electronic device waste.

RoHS does not eliminate the use of lead in all electronic devices. In certain devices requiring high reliability, such as medical devices, continued use of lead alloys is permitted. Thus, lead in electronics continues to be a concern. The electronics industry has been searching for a practical substitute for tin/lead solders. The most common substitutes in present use are SAC varieties, which are alloys containing tin (Sn), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu).

SAC solders also have significant environmental consequences. For example, mining tin is disastrous both locally and globally. Large deposits of tin are found in the Amazon rain forest. In Brazil, this has led to the introduction of roads, clearing of forest, displacement of native people, soil degradation, and creation of dams, tailing ponds, and mounds, and smelting operations. Perhaps the most serious environmental impact of mining tin in Brazil is the silting up of rivers and creeks. This degradation modifies forever the profile of animal and plant life, destroys gene banks, alters the soil structure, introduces pests and diseases, and creates an irrecoverable ecological loss.

Worldwide ecological problems stemming from mismanagement of Brazil's environment are well known. These range from pressures on global warming from the destruction of rain forest to the long term damage to the pharmaceutical industry by the destruction of animal and plant life diversity. Mining in Brazil is simply one example of the tin industry's destructive effects. Large deposits and mining operations also exist in Indonesia, Malaysia, and China, developing countries where attitudes toward economic development overwhelm concerns for ecological protection.

SAC solders have additional problems. They require high temperatures, wasting energy, are brittle, and cause reliability problems. The melting temperature is such that components and circuit boards may be damaged. Correct quantities of individual alloy constituent compounds are still under investigation and the long term stability is unknown. Moreover, SAC solder processes are prone to the formation of shorts (e.g., “tin whiskers”) and opens if surfaces are not properly prepared. Whether tin/lead solder or a SAC variety is used, dense metal adds both to the weight and height of circuit assemblies.

Therefore there is a need for a substitute for the soldering process and its attendant environmental and practical drawbacks.

While solder alloys have been most common, other joining materials have been proposed and/or used such as so-called “polymer solders” which are a form of conductive adhesive. Moreover, there have been efforts to make connections separable by providing sockets for components. There have also been electrical and electronic connectors developed to link power and signal carrying conductors described with various resilient contact structures all of which require constant applied force or pressure.

At the same time, there has been a continual effort to put more electronics into ever smaller volumes. As a result, over the last few years there has been interest within the electronics industry in various methods for integrated circuit (IC) chip stacking within packages and the stacking of IC packages themselves, all with the intent of reducing assembly size in the Z or vertical axis. There has also been an ongoing effort to reduce the number of surface mounted components on a printed circuit board (PCB) by embedding certain components, mostly passive devices, inside the circuit board.

In the creation of IC packages, there has also been an effort to embed active devices by placing unpackaged IC devices directly inside a substrate and interconnecting them by drilling and plating directly to the chip contacts. While such solutions offer benefits in specific applications, the input/output (I/O) terminals of the chip can be very small and very challenging to make such connections accurately. Moreover the device after manufacturing may not successfully pass burn in testing making the entire effort valueless after completion.

Another area of concern is in management of heat as densely packaged ICs may create a high energy density that can reduce the reliability of electronic products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an electronic assembly and a method for its manufacture. Pre-tested and burned in components including electrical, electronic, electro-optical, electromechanical and user interface devices with external I/O contacts are placed onto a planar base. The assembly is encapsulated with a solder mask, dielectric, or electrically insulating material (collectively referred to as “insulating material” in this application including claims) with holes, known as vias, formed or drilled through to the components' leads, conductors, and terminals (collectively referred to as “leads” in this application including claims). Then the assembly is plated and the encapsulation and drilling process repeated to build up desired layers. Because vias need only expose a fraction of the area of components' leads, traces may be densely spaced. The substrate that the components are attached to may be flexible, allowing the fitting of the assembly into various shapes within electronic devices.

The assembly, built with a novel reverse-interconnection process (RIP), uses no solder, thus bypassing the use of lead, tin, and heat associated problems. The term “reverse” refers to the reverse order of assembly; components are placed first and then circuit layers manufactured rather than creating a PCB first and then mounting components. No conventional PCB is required (although one may be optionally integrated), shortening manufacturing cycle time, reducing costs and complexity, and lessening PCB reliability problems.

RIP products are robust with respect to mechanical shock and thermal cycle fatigue failure. In comparison to conventional products placed on PCB boards, components incorporated into RIP products require no standoff from the surface and thus have a lower profile and can more densely spaced. Moreover, because no solderable finish is required and fewer materials and fewer process steps are required, RIP products are lower-cost. In addition, RIP products are amenable to in-place thermal enhancements (including improved heat dissipation materials and methods) that also may provide integral electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Moreover the structure may be assembled with embedded electrical and optical components.

The present invention overcomes numerous disadvantages in the prior art by:

-   -   Obviation of the need for circuit boards     -   Obviation of the need for soldering     -   Obviation of the problem of “tin whiskers”     -   Obviation of the need for difficult cleaning between fine pitch         component leads     -   Obviation of the need for compliant leads or compliant solder         connections     -   Obviation of many of the problems associated with electronic         waste at many different levels of manufacturing and end of life     -   Obviation of the thermal concerns related to the use of high         temperature lead-free solders on vulnerable components     -   Benefits of the present invention include:     -   Low manufacturing waste, as structures are almost completely         additive     -   Lower material use in construction     -   Environmentally friendly as potentially toxic metals are not         needed     -   Fewer processing steps     -   Reduced testing requirements     -   Low heat processing, thus resulting in energy savings     -   Lower cost     -   Lower profile assemblies     -   Increased reliability     -   Potentially higher performance or longer battery life     -   Better protection of ICs against mechanical shock, vibration and         physical damage     -   Improved design security as devices used are not directly         viewable     -   Full shielding of the electronics as a final metal coating can         be applied     -   Improved thermal performance     -   Integral edge card connector capable     -   Improved design for memory modules     -   Improved design for phone modules     -   Improved design for computer card modules     -   Improved design for smart and RFID cards     -   Improved lighting modules

The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, and many of the attendant advantages of this invention, can best be understood in reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified, and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior solder assembly employing a gull wing component on a PCB.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a prior solder assembly employing either a Ball Grid Array (BGA) or a Land Grid Array (LGA) component on a PCB.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a prior solderless assembly employing an electrical component.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a RIP assembly employing a LGA component.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a RIP assembly employing a LGA component with an optional heat spreader and heat sink.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a two layer RIP assembly showing mounted discrete, analog, and LGA components.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a pair of mated two layer RIP subassemblies.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 11 is a perspective representation of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 13 is a perspective representation of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a side drawing of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative RIP assembly.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the registration and bringing together of two RIP subassemblies.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a completed mated pair of two RIP subassemblies.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a RIP assembly employing a LGA component mounted on a flexible substrate.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of a stage in the manufacture of a representative flexible substrate RIP assembly.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of a representative RIP assembly showing discrete, analog, and LGA components mounted on a flexible substrate.

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of a representative RIP assembly showing mounted discrete, analog, and LGA components on a flexible substrate and showing a flexing of the assembly.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of a layer of a RIP subassembly showing trace connections.

FIG. 30 is a top view of a layer of a non-RIP subassembly.

FIG. 31 is a view of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 32 is a top view of a layer of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 33 is a photograph of a top view of a RIP subassembly.

FIG. 34 is a photograph of a perspective view of a RIP subassembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description and in the accompanying drawings, specific terminology and drawing symbols are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In some instances, the terminology and symbols may imply specific details that are not required to practice the invention. For example, the interconnection between conductor elements of components (i.e., component I/O leads) may be shown or described as having multi-conductors interconnecting to a single lead or a single conductor signal line connected to multiple component contacts within or between devices. Thus each of the multi-conductor interconnections may alternatively be a single-conductor signaling, control, power or ground line and vice versa. Circuit paths shown or described as being single-ended may also be differential, and vice-versa. The interconnected assembly may be comprised of standard interconnections; microstrip or stripline interconnections and all signal lines of the assembly may be either shielded or unshielded.

FIG. 1 shows a prior completed assembly 100, with solder joint 110, of a gull wing component package 104 solder-mounted on a PCB 102.

Component package 104 contains electrical component 106. The component 106 may be either an IC or another discrete component. Gull wing lead 108 extends from package 104 to flow solder 110 which in turn connects lead 108 to pad 112 on PCB 102. Insulating material 114 prevents flow solder 110 from flowing to and shorting component 106 with other components (not shown) on PCB 102. Pad 112 connects to through hole 118 which in turn connects to proper traces such as ones indicated by 116. In addition to the aforementioned problems with solder joints, this type of assembly, including the internal structure of PCB 102, is complex and requires height space that is reduced in the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a prior completed assembly 200, with solder joint 202, of either a BGA IC or a LGA IC package 204 on a PCB 214. A primary difference from FIG. 1 is the use of ball solder 202 as opposed to flow solder 110.

Component package 204 contains component 206. Lead 208 extends from package 204 through support 210 (typically composed of reinforced organic or ceramic material) to ball solder 202 which in turn connects lead 208 to pad 212 on PCB 214. Insulating material 216 prevents ball solder 202 from shorting other leads (not shown) contained in package 204. Insulating material 218 prevents ball solder 202 from flowing to and shorting component 206 with other components (not shown) on PCB 214. Pad 212 connects to through hole 220 which in turn connects to proper traces such as ones indicated by 222. The same problems are present with this configuration as with the assembly shown in FIG. 1: In addition to the aforementioned problems with solder joints, this type of assembly is complex, particularly because of the PCB 214, and requires height space that is reduced in the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a prior solderless connection apparatus 300. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,714 (Green). In this configuration, substrate 302 supports a package 304. Package 304 contains an electrical component (not shown) such as an IC or other discrete component. Overlying substrate 302 is insulating material 306. On the other side of the substrate 302, is a conductive, polymer-thick-film ink 308. To improve conductivity, a thin film of copper is plated 310 on polymer-thick-film 308. A via extends from the package 304 through substrate 302. The via is filled with a conductive adhesive 314. The point of attachment 316 of package 304 to adhesive 314 may be made with fusible polymer-thick-film ink, silver polymer-thick-film conductive ink, or commercial solder paste. One disadvantage of this prior art assembly over the present invention is the additional thickness added by the adhesive 314 as illustrated by bump 318.

RIP Assembly

FIG. 4, an assembly 400 illustrative of the present invention, shows a LGA component package (402, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414) mounted on a substrate 416 which does not have to be a PCB. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that a BGA, gull wing, or other IC package structure or any type of discrete component may substitute for the LGA component. The connection is simpler, solder free, and lower profile than the assemblies shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

Adhering to package 402 is electrically insulating material 404. Material 404 is shown attached to 1 side of package 402. However, material 404 may be attached to 2 sides of package 402, more than 2 sides of package 402, or may in fact envelop package 402. As applied, material 404 may give the assembly strength, stability, structural integrity, toughness (i.e., it is non-brittle), and dimensional stability. Material 404 may be reinforced by the inclusion of a suitable material such as a screen (see FIGS. 33 and 34) or a glass cloth.

Component package 402 contains electrical component 406 (such as an IC, discrete, or analog device; collectively referred to as “component” in this application including claims), supports 408 and 410 (preferably composed of reinforced organic or ceramic material), lead 412, and insulating material 414. While component package 402, as manufactured and shipped in many cases, incorporates insulating material 414, this legacy feature may potentially be eliminated in the future thus reducing the profile of the assembly 400. Either supports 408 and 410 or, if present, insulating material 414 sit on substrate 416 which is preferably made of insulating material. Some portion or all of substrate 416 may be made of electrically conductive material if it is desired to short leads (e.g., 412) extending from package 402.

Attachment of lead 412 to insulating material 414 and substrate 416 may be realized by adhesive dots as well as by other well known techniques.

A first set of vias, an example of which is via 420, extends through substrate 416, extends through insulating material 414, if present, reaches, and exposes leads such as lead 412. The first set of vias are plated or filled with an electrically conductive material (in many cases copper (Cu), although silver (Ag), gold (Au), or aluminum (Al) as well as other suitable materials, may be substituted). The plate or fill fuse with leads 412 forming an electrical and mechanical bond.

The substrate 416 may include a pattern mask (not shown) which is plated, or the plate or fill introduced into the first set of vias (e.g., via 420) may extend under the substrate 416 and provide a required first set of traces. Other traces may be created. A layer 422, also of insulating material, may underlay substrate 416 and first traces. The purpose of 422 is to provide a platform for a second set of traces (if required) and to electrically insulate the first set of traces from the second set of traces.

A second set of vias, an example of which is via 426, extends through layer 422, reaches, and exposes traces and/or leads (e.g., lead 428) under substrate 416. As discussed above, referring to the first set of vias (e.g., via 420), the second set of vias may be plated or filled so that they fuse with desired leads (e.g., lead 428) under substrate 416. As above, one or more traces 430 may extend under layer 422.

This layering continues as needed. By repeating the above structure, multiple layers (not shown), and additional traces and vias may be built. A surface insulating material 432 undercoats the last layer. This material 432 may be selectively coated with a metal finish that does not interfere with electrical functions to create a more hermetic assembly and provide additional EMI protection. Leads or electrical connectors (e.g., lead 434) may extend beyond the surface insulating material 432. This provides contact surfaces (e.g., surface 436) to permit connection with other electrical components or circuit boards.

FIG. 5, assembly 500, shows optional heat dissipation features. Subassembly 400, previously described in FIG. 4, may have on top of the package 402 and material 404 a heat spreader 506 and/or a heat sink 508 to dissipate heat generated by component 406. A thermal interface material (not shown) may be used to join the heat sink to the heat spreader. Optionally, material 404 may include in its composition a heat conductive (although electrically insulating) material such as silicon dioxide (SiO₂) or aluminum dioxide (AlO₂) to enhance heat flow from package 402. If heat spreader 506 and heat sink 508 are made of one or more substances well known in the art, they may provide electromagnetic interference (EMI) protection to the subassembly 400 and help protect against static electricity discharges.

In accordance with a two layer RIP assembly, a section of which is shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 shows assembly 600 with a mounted sample set of components, including a discrete gull wing component 602, an analog component 604, and a LGA IC 606.

It will be apparent to someone skilled in the art that the RIP assembly is less complicated than a PCB containing soldered components. That is, just a PCB by itself is a complex device requiring dozens of steps to manufacture. The RIP assembly, by not requiring a PCB board, is simpler and requires fewer steps to manufacture a complete electronic assembly.

As an option, the FIG. 7 assembly 700 shows two RIP subassemblies, 702 and 704, joined together at the plated and/or filled vias (e.g., 706 a, 706 b) and/or at the leads (e.g., 708 a, 708 b).

RIP Method of Manufacture

FIGS. 8 to 17 show a method of manufacture of a RIP assembly. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the sequence of steps may be varied without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

FIG. 8, stage 800, shows the initial mounting of packaged components, 802, 804, and 806 on a substrate 808. The components may be held in place by a number of different techniques and/or substances well known in the art including applying spot or nonconductive adhesive or by bonding to a tacky film of component leads to substrate 808. The material for applying or bonding may be suitable for holding and later releasing the components.

FIG. 9, stage 900, shows another step in the RIP method of manufacture. At this stage, the partial assembly of FIG. 8 is flipped. The initially mounted packaged components 802, 804, and 806 are encased in electrically insulating material 908. Material 908 provides support for packaged components 802, 804, and 806 as well as electrical insulation from each other. If material 908 contains heat conductive, but electrically insulating matter, such as AlO₂ or SiO₂, it will also aid in dissipating heat.

FIG. 10, stage 1000, shows another step in the RIP method of manufacture. Vias (e.g., 1002) through substrate 808 are created, reaching and exposing leads of packaged components 802, 804, and 806. Vias (e.g., 1002) may be formed or drilled (collectively referred to as “formed” in this application including claims) by any number of known techniques including laser drilling.

FIG. 11, partial assembly 1100, as shown at the completion of stage 1000, is a perspective view of a top side of substrate 808 showing vias (e.g., 1102).

FIG. 12, stage 1200, illustrates how direct printing of circuits can be achieved. Vias (e.g., 1202) may be plated or filled with electrically conductive material and traces and leads (e.g., 1208) on substrate 808 may be created by device 1206. Using any number of techniques well known in the art, device 1206 may fill vias 1202, print leads and traces 1208, and/or plate leads and traces 1208 onto substrate 808.

Traces (e.g., 1302) and leads (e.g. 1304), created in accordance with stage 1200 on substrate 808, are shown in perspective view in FIG. 13, partial assembly 1300.

Partial assembly 1400, created in accordance with stage 1200 is shown in side view in FIG. 14. Filled vias (e.g., via 1402) are shown extending through substrate 808 to component leads (e.g., lead 1406).

In FIG. 15, showing stage 1500, a layer of insulating material 1502 and a second set of vias (e.g. via 1504) are formed on top of substrate 808. The vias extend to and expose leads (e.g., 1506) on top of substrate 808.

In FIG. 16, a stage showing creation of subassembly 1600, plating and/or filling vias (e.g., 1602) and making traces (e.g., 1604) are completed on layer 1502.

In this manner, additional layers may be built up. Eventually, as shown in FIG. 17, stage 1700, insulating material 1702 is laid on top of the top layer of subassembly 1600. In addition, heat spreader 1706 and heat sink 1708 may be attached underneath material 908.

An alternative to laying material 1702 on top of subassembly 1704 is shown in FIG. 18, stage 1800, and FIG. 19, stage 1900. In FIG. 18, the leads, fills, and traces of subassemblies 1600 are registered with each other and then brought together.

FIG. 19 shows the addition of a bonding agent 1908, using any suitable process and material (e.g., applying anisotropic conductive film), joining together subassemblies 1600. As described above and shown in FIG. 17 for one subassembly, but not shown in FIG. 19, heat spreaders and heat sinks may be added underneath support material 1904 and on top of support material 1906.

Flexible Substrate

FIG. 20 is similar to FIG. 4 with several notable differences: assembly 2000, shown partially, has a flexible substrate 2016 mounting (the flexible substrate 2016 having a first planar side 2022 and a second planar side 2024); electrically insulating material 2004 does not extend across the entire substrate; and there is only one layer of vias (e.g. via 2020) and traces (e.g. trace 2028).

FIG. 20, assembly 2000 illustrative of a flexible variant of the present invention, shows a LGA component package 2002 (which includes sub-components 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) mounted on a flexible substrate 2016 made of electrically insulating material of a type well known in the art. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that a BGA, gull wing, or other IC package structure or any type of discrete component may substitute for the LGA component. Similar to the assembly shown in FIG. 4, the connection is simpler, solder free, and lower profile than the assemblies shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

Adhering to package 2002 is electrically insulating material 2004. Material 2004 is shown attached to 2 sides of package 2002. However, material 2004 may be attached to 1 side of package 2002, more than 2 sides of package 2002, or may in fact envelop package 2002. As applied, material 2004 may give an appropriate portion of the assembly strength, stability, structural integrity, toughness (i.e., it is non-brittle), and dimensional stability. Material 2004 may be reinforced by the inclusion of a suitable material such as a glass cloth or metal screen (which also provides some measure of EMI protection).

Component package 2002 contains electrical component 2006 (such as an IC, discrete, or analog device; collectively referred to as “component” in this application including claims), supports 2008 and 2010 (preferably composed of organic or ceramic material), lead 2012, and insulating material 2014. While component package 2002, as manufactured and shipped in many cases, incorporates electrically insulating material 2014, this legacy feature may potentially be eliminated in the future thus reducing the profile of the assembly 2000. Either supports 2008 and 2010 or, if present, insulating material 2014 sit on flexible substrate 2016 which is preferably made of electrically insulating material. Some portion or all of substrate 2016 may be made of electrically conductive material if it is desired to short leads (e.g., 2012) extending from package 2002.

Attachment of lead 2012 and insulating material 2014 to substrate 2016 may be realized by adhesive dots as well as by other well known techniques.

A set of vias, an example of which is via 2020, extends through substrate 2016, extends through insulating material 2014, if present, reaches, and exposes leads such as lead 2012. The via 2020 is plated or filled with an electrically conductive material (in many cases copper (Cu), although silver (Ag), gold (Au), or aluminum (Al) as well as other suitable materials, may be substituted). The plate or fill fuse with leads 2012 forming an electrical and mechanical bond.

The substrate 2016 may include a pattern mask (not shown) which is plated, or the plate or fill introduced into the set of vias (e.g., via 2020) may extend under the substrate 2016 and provide a required set of traces. Other traces may be created.

A surface electrically insulating material 2032 undercoats the traces (e.g. trace 2028) and flexible substrate 2016. Leads or electrical connectors may extend beyond the surface insulating material 2032. This provides contact surfaces (not shown) to permit connection with other electrical components or circuit boards.

Although not shown in the Figures, it is apparent from comparing FIG. 20 to FIG. 5, that assembly 2000, may include optional heat dissipation features. Assembly 2000, may have on top of the package 2002 and/or material 2004 a heat spreader 506 and/or a heat sink 508 (both shown in FIG. 5) to dissipate heat generated by component 2006. A thermal interface material (not shown) may be used to join the heat sink to the heat spreader. Optionally, material 2004 may include in its composition a heat conductive (although electrically insulating) material such as silicon dioxide (SiO₂) or aluminum dioxide (AlO₂) to enhance heat flow from package 2002. If, as shown in FIG. 5, heat spreader 506 and heat sink 508 are made of one or more substances well known in the art, they may provide electromagnetic interference (EMI) protection to the assembly 2000 and help protect against static electricity discharges.

Material 2004 may have a tapered edge 2005 which provides strain relief (i.e., a transition from rigid to flex areas) when assembly 2000 is flexed.

FIGS. 21 to 26 show a method of manufacture of a flexible RIP assembly. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the sequence of steps may be varied without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

Referring again to FIG. 8, stage 800 shows the initial mounting of packaged components, 802, 804, and 806 on a substrate 808. This stage remains the same in mounting analogous components on a flexible substrate (e.g., components 2102, 2002, and 2104 and flexible substrate 2016 in FIG. 21). The components may be held in place by a number of different techniques and/or substances well known in the art including applying spot or nonconductive adhesive or by bonding to a tacky film of component leads to flexible substrate 2016. The material for applying or bonding may be suitable for permanently holding the components.

FIG. 21, stage 2100, shows the envelopment of a typical set of packaged components (e.g. gull wing 2102, LGA 2002, and analog component 2104) mounted on flexible substrate 2016. At this stage, flexible substrate 2016 may rest on a temporary base (not shown) or on an air cushion. Electrically insulating material 2004 and electrically insulating material 2004 a are applied to or overmolded on the typical components 2102, 2002, and 2104. Material 2004 and 2004 a adhere to flexible substrate 2016. It should be noted that the material 2004 and 2004 a may attach to or envelop a single component such as 2102, more than one component such as 2002 and 2104, or multiple components. The result of stage 2100 is the completion of subassembly 2106.

FIG. 22, stage 2200, shows support element and/or molding device 2208 being registered and positioned over subassembly 2106.

As shown in FIG. 23, stage 2300 is the application of support element and/or molding device 2208. Device 2208 touches material 2004 a and 2004 at respective contours 2302 and 2304. Device 2208 supports and/or molds material 2004 a and material 2004. Whether material 2004 a and material 2004 have been pre-formed or are molded at this stage, device 2208 provides support for subassembly 2106 (see FIGS. 21 and 22) at subsequent stages of manufacture.

If desired, following stage 2300, the temporary base may be removed or air cushion discontinued. And again, if desired, the subassembly may be repositioned as shown in FIG. 24, stage 2400. At this stage, drilling (forming vias such as via 2402), through flexible substrate 2016 exposes leads (such as lead 2012). However, the order and process of forming vias may be different; they may be pre-formed by drilling or molding, for example, before stage 2100, FIG. 21. In fact, vias may be formed by drilling through the temporary base or air cushion.

At stage 2500, FIG. 25, plating or filling vias occurs with, for example, material 2502. Electrically conductive, material 2502 (in many cases copper (Cu), although silver (Ag), gold (Au), or aluminum (Al) as well as other suitable materials, may be substituted) is applied by any process well known in the art. Plate or fill fuse with component leads forming an electrical and mechanical bond. The plate or fill may form leads. Also at this stage, traces such as trace 2504 may be formed, generally in practice by plating.

At the next stage 2600, FIG. 26, applying a surface electrically insulating or dielectric material 2602 overcoats plated or filled vias (e.g., filled via material 2502), traces (e.g. trace 2504), and flexible substrate 2016. Leads or electrical connectors, lead 2604 a at one point and lead 2604 b at another point, may extend beyond the surface insulating material 2602. Leads 2604 a and 2604 b allow connection with other electrical components or circuit boards. Providing physical support at this stage is device 2208. As an alternate to device 2208, an air cushion can provide support. At the conclusion of stage 2600, device 2208 is removed.

A completed assembly 2700 is shown in FIG. 27. Components 2102, 2002, and 2104 are insulated and are attached to flexible substrate 2016 by material 2004 a and 2004. Insulating material 2032 provides support for flexible substrate 2016.

FIG. 28 shows assembly 2700 in position with inflection points approximately at 2802 and 2804. Flexing the assembly 2700 allows it to be placed in devices where “real estate” is at a premium (e.g., cell phone and hand-held devices) thus allowing circuitry to be inserted around other miscellaneous device elements.

Trace Density

Referring to FIG. 10, a RIP subassembly includes vias, such as via 1002 (see FIG. 11 for a perspective view).

In FIG. 29, on the surface of substrate 2906 of a RIP subassembly 2900, filled vias form leads (e.g., lead 2904) and traces (e.g., trace 2902).

FIG. 30 shows a non-RIP subassembly 3000 which employs soldered connections. On a printed circuit board (PCB) 3002, solder covers leads (e.g., 3004). Traces (e.g., 3006) are formed between leads and are limited in number by the reduced space between land edges. A soldermask (not shown) is commonly used to define the solder terminations.

FIG. 31 shows a RIP subassembly 3100 in which electrical insulating material 3102 envelops component package 3104 and attaches component package 3104 to a substrate 3112. Vias have been formed extending through substrate 3112 to component leads (e.g., lead 3106). Vias have been filled or plated (e.g., filled via 3110) and traces formed (e.g., trace 3108) connecting filled or plated vias thus forming appropriate electrical paths. Filled via 3110 covers only a fraction of the area of lead 3106 allowing more traces to be routed between lands when compared to FIG. 30. Note also that it would be possible to reduce the size of the lands because solder is not required thus increasing the routing potential on the package and thus also potentially reducing the package layer count and complexity.

FIG. 32 is a top view of a RIP subassembly 3200 that is similar to the subassembly 3100 in FIG. 31. Substrate 3202 covers component packages (not shown). Component package leads (e.g., 3204) are, in contrast to the non-RIP subassembly 3000 in FIG. 30, partially covered by filled or plated vias (e.g., filled via 3206). Traces (e.g., trace 3208 a and trace 3208 b) extend from filled or plated vias forming appropriate electrical paths. By covering only part of the area of the underlying leads, the RIP subassembly permits more densely spaced traces than the non-RIP subassembly. This is apparent by comparing FIG. 32, subassembly 3200, with FIG. 30, subassembly 3000.

Screen Inclusion

As stated above regarding FIG. 4, material 404 may incorporate a metal screen, glass cloth, or other reinforcing material to improve strength and stability. FIG. 33, assembly 3300, shows inclusion of screen 3304 in electrically insulating material 3302 which in turn envelops component packages (e.g., package 3306). Screen 3304 may not only serve to add strength and stability but also acts as a heat spreader and provides EMI protection. FIG. 34 is a perspective view of assembly 3300 showing the inclusion of screen 3304. As in FIG. 33, component package 3302 is enveloped with material 3306 with screen 3304 embedded within material 3306.

While the particular system, assembly, and method for ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT SOLDER as herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the above-described objects of the invention, it is to be understood that it is the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention and is thus representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention, that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular means “at least one”. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. 

1. A method of making a circuit assembly comprising: providing a flexible substrate having a first planar side and a second planar side, placing at least one component package in contact with the first planar side, the component package having at least one surface, applying a first electrically insulating material, the first insulating material attaching the at least one surface of the at least one component package with the first planar side, wherein the first insulating material tapers onto the first planar side, placing one or more component supports on the first electrically insulating material and over the at least one component package, wherein the one or more component supports temporarily support the first electrically insulating material and temporarily connect with the first planar side, forming a first set of at least one via through the second planar side to expose a set of at least one lead of the at least one component package, and removing the one or more component supports.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising filling the at least one via with an electrically conductive material.
 3. The method of claim 2 further comprising placing a second electrically insulating material on the second planar side, the second electrically insulating material covering the electrically conductive material.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising molding the first electrically insulating material with the one or more component supports.
 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein said first temporary support comprises an air cushion.
 6. A method of making a circuit assembly comprising: providing a flexible substrate having a first planar side and a second planar side; placing at least one component to said the first planar side of said flexible substrate; applying a first electrically insulating material, the first insulating material attaching the at least one component with the first planar side: placing one or more component supports on the first electrically insulating material and over the at least one component, wherein the one or more component supports temporarily support the first electrically insulating material and temporarily connect with the first planar side, forming a first set of at least one via through the second planar side to expose a set of at least one lead of the at least one component, and removing the one or more component supports.
 7. The method according to claim 6 where the first insulating material is shaped with respect to the least one component to taper onto the first planar side of said flexible substrate. 